Washing apparatus for clothes



April 1, 1941. E. w. ERlKssoN WASHING APPARATS FOR CLOTHES Filed July 5. 1938 Patented Apr. 1, 1941 UiiiiTED WASH-ING APPARATUS FOR CLGTHES Erik Walirid Eriksson, Rosenllill, Bjorklinge, Sweden Application July 5, 1938, Serial No. 217,455 In Sweden July 15, 1937 (Ol. (iS-51) I l Claim.

The present invention relates to a washing'apparatus for clothes, which is arranged to be driven lby hand or by machine. The apparatus is mounted in a vat or cistern and provided with a piston and piston-rod axially movable in a cylinder, which at the top and at the bottom is guided in the cistern. Together with the inner wall of the cistern the cylinder forms a returnchannel, and at the top and bottom it is provided with openings, which connect the interior of the cylinder with the return-channel. The inner surface of the cylinder guides the piston. The bottom of the piston is provided with a passage and a spring provided valve co-operatng therewith so that the passage is closed during the compression stroke of the piston and is opened by the valve during the suction-stroke of the piston, when vacuum and the weight of the washing liquid are greater than the power of the valvespring.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, which shows the washing apparatus mounted in a cylindrical cistern or receptacle, which, after the machine parts have been removed, may be used as a waterheater or the like. In the drawing the apparatus is shown in side-view and cross-section through the cistern and the parts mounted therein.

The cistern I of the washing apparatus is cylindrical and has a bottom 2 and a discharge-pipe 3 with a tap (not shown in the drawing). The lcistern I is provided with a cover 4 with a llingopening 5 and a splash-edge 6 with an opening i in its bottom in order to prevent the washing liquid from flowing outside the cover but lead the liquid, which will splash over the cover, back into the cistern I. The cistern I is at its bottom provided with a support 8, consisting of a ring, for instance a low, wooden cylinder, with recesses 8a and openings 8b in order to prevent the clothes from touching. the wall in the lower part of the cistern but give the washing liquid free passage all about the lower part of the cistern. The support 8 preferably is guided, for instance by the cylindrical wall of the oistern I. Above and upon the support 3 there is arranged an inner cylinder 9, in which a piston l0, II, I2, I3, I4 is axially moved. The outer diameter of the inner cylinder 9 is smaller than the inner diameter of the cistern I, so that both these cylinders form a passage or return-channel I5 for the washing liquid and air. The inner cylinder 9 is located at the bottom upon the support 8 by means of an edge I6, and it is located at the top on the inner wall of the cistern I by means of an edge I1, At

the edge Il there are provided return openings I3 in the cylinder 9. The piston is provided with a lbottom portion Iii, a gathering ring II for the returning washing liquor, a holding member I2 for a packing ring I3, for instance of rubber, and a hub I4, which is provided with a number of arms I9. Below the arms i9 the piston Ill is provided with a passage 2li, which is regulated by a valve 22 which is axially movable and influenced by a spring 2l The valve 22 tightens against the passage 2B during the compression or downward stroke of the piston. When the valve 22 abuts against the bottom It), it closes the passage 20, frees it when the piston is moved upwards for the suction stroke,` as the power of the spring 2| then will be not as great as the vacuum and the weight of the washing liquid above the bottom It) of the piston. The valve 22 is provided with a valve rod 23, which permits the spring 2| to be so arranged in relation to the cistern I, that the washing liquid normally does not touch or have an injurious influence upon the springmaterial. The valve-rod 23 is freely movable in a tubular piston-rod 24, which is connected with the hub I 4. The rod 23 `is connected with the valve 22, and at its upper end preferably a stop is arranged, for instance a turnable button 23a. or the like, which slides in the upper end of the piston-rod 24. When desired, the spring 2| may be removed from the piston rod by simply unscrewing stop 23a and then removing said spring, so that a greater vacuum during the suctionstroke may be obtained and the clothes may be more effectively lifted and loosened.

On the tubular piston-rod 24 an adjustable, axially movable holder 25 is arranged, which may be locked by a screw 25a. and which is provided with a pin 23 on which one end of a crank 2l is pivotally arranged, so that the holder may be moved upwards and downwards by turning a wheel 28 to which the other end of crank 2l is fixed by pin 29. The wheel 23 may be driven by hand orvby machine power. The driving wheel 28, which is a cog-wheel mounted upon a shaft 3i), engages with a cog-wheel 3l or with a chain or another suitable arrangement, and is connected with a fly-wheel 33 by means of a shaft 32, said ilywheel being provided with a handle 34. The shaft 32 is mounted in bearings 35, 36. A hollow support 3l serves as guiding member for the piston-rod 24, and is provided with a bearing 38. As mentioned, the cistern I is intended to be used alsofor purposes other than washing. Therefore, the mechanism is arranged upon the cover 4 of the cistern I by means of bearings 35 and 36 and the support 31.

When the piston-rod 24 moves downwards, the pressure below the valve 22 together with the spring 2l keeps the passage 20 through the pistonbottom ID closed. The pressure below the piston presses the washing liquid through the clothes, after which it passes through the recesses 8a and the openings 8b in the support 8, through the passage I5 between the inner cylinder 9 and the cistern I and through the openings I8 in the inner cylinder 9 to the upper part of the piston. Since the piston is provided with a packing ring I3 for tightening, the piston may tighten for a relatively high pressure and press air and washing liquid through the clothes. When the compressionstroke of the piston is nished, much washing liquid will be collected in the gathering ring II above the bottom I0 of the piston. During the suction stroke which now begins, spring 2| is overcome by the weight of the liquid, so that the valve will be open and the washing liquid, together with lather and air, passes through the passage 20 in the bottom I0 into the space below the piston to such an extent, that a greater amount of air may be utilised with the liquid when it is pressed through the clothes, which during the suction stroke were loosened or parted by the vacuum created, so that the washing liquid during the following compressionstroke may be pressed into all the folds of the clothes. The holder 25, which is adjustably arranged on the piston-rod 24, by means of a screw 25a, may be adjusted to the quantity of clothes with which the apparatus is iilled, so that the compression-stroke by adjustment of the the power of the holder 25 may be finished at a greater or smaller distance from the bottom 2 of the cistern I. Occasionally during the washing and rinsing, the clothes may be additionally loosened, also when the valve 22 is locked in its closed position, by means of the stop 23a on the valve-rod 23 by turning the same, so that it lies against the upper end of the piston-rod 24.

Of course the apparatus in its details also may be carried out in another manner than the described and illustrated without departing from the idea of the invention.

I claim:

A washing machine comprising an outer cistern, an apertured support on the bottom of said outer cistern, an inner cylinder arranged upon said support at the bottom, a flange at the top of said inner cylinder abutting against the interior of said outer cistern, apertures in said ange, a cover over said outer cistern and inner cylinder, an aperture in said cover, a hollow support projecting upwardly from said cover and registering with said aperture therein, a hollow piston rod projecting through said support into said inner cylinder and terminating at the bottom in a piston, a packing ring on said piston contacting the interior of said inner cylinder, and a passage in the centre of said piston, a valve rod passing through said hollow piston rod, a valve member on the bottom end of said valve rod and abutting against said passage from underneath, a spring held within the top end of said piston rod and surrounding said valve rod, a stop member on the top of said valve rod, and means for reciprocating said piston in said inner cylinder.

ERIK WALFRID ERIKSSON. 

